Tag: Honor Marks

Yellowjack by Honor Marks

The Real Estate Studio is excited to present local artist Honor Marks for her latest  show, Bitter and Sweet. This is her first solo show since her exhibit at the Morris  Museum of Art last fall and the birth of her son in January. New works and  museum works will be on display from June 5^th through July 15^th.

Honor Marks explores the complexities we face in life through the depictions of nature  for which she is known. Sharp thorny branches bear
luscious fruit; an intricate sculptural pod is an egg sac for a widow spider; a carnivorous plant produces a delicate blossom when it flowers.

Honor grew up in the Lowcountry and spent much of her childhood photographing wildflowers all over the South with her family. She studied Fine Arts at the University of the South in Sewanee Tennessee and took her work to Athens, Georgia after graduating, where she painted for a nationally renowned furniture company, Habersham.

It’s that time of year again, Charleston. It’s time for SEWE! Or, for you non-locals, the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition that runs this weekend from February 17-19^th. This year SEWE will be celebrating its 30^th year and will attract around 500 artists and exhibitors who will demonstrate their work to over 40,000 attendees. Though the emphasized focus of SEWE is the experts in wildlife and nature art, the event also specializes in conservation through environmental education.

As SEWE has grown since February of 1983, so have the programs goals. The many missions of SEWE are: to increase tourism traffic to the Charleston area during its normally slow season, showcase fine wildlife art and artists, invest positively in wildlife and nature education, and to aid in Charleston’s nature and wildlife preservation by spreading awareness and collecting the financial benefits SEWE brings in.

“SEWE provides the public with affordable access to cultural and educational opportunities…Its programs underscore the need for educating ourselves and our children about the conservation and preservation of our wild and natural resources” says the function’s website. Those who choose to participate in the event experience art of all kinds, meet artists, attend exhibits, lectures, and children’s educational programs.

We are thrilled to be a part of the weekend festivities.  Local painter Honor Marks, whose work focuses on indigenous wildlife and botanicals, will show new paintings at The Real Estate Studio beginning Feb 16.  The show, Wild at Heart, Paintings of SC Wildlife, begins SEWE weekend and will continue until March 26.  Marks grew up in Charleston and developed a love for art by photographing unique wildlife and pieces of the marsh with her family when she was young. Honing her skills further as she grew, Marks double majored in English and Fine Arts receiving her B.A. with honors from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.

Over the next several years Marks painted for renowned furniture company Habersham, worked in design and as a commercial artist, dedicating herself to oil painting full time in 1999. “My work is intended to reveal what is right in front of us but goes unseen,” Marks said about her painting. “We truly take for granted the enormity of the miracles that surround us. My work celebrates those miracles.”

Marks has been given several awards and honors for her art including: Best in Show at the 2003 Piccolo Spoleto Juried Outdoor Art Exhibit, 2005 Griffith Lowcountry Artist Award, and a narration of her species paintings by Rudy Mancke, host of television’s Nature Scene in 2006. Most recently, in 2009, Marks was commissioned by Medical College of Georgia to create five paintings of medicinal plants to hang permanently in the MCG Cancer Center.

Honor’s work appears in private and corporate collections across the country and is available through Trowbridge Gallery in Ojai, CA; Mary Pauline Projects in Augusta, GA; and online at www.HonorMarks.com.

Mark’s Wild at Heart, Paintings of SC Wildlife series will be on exhibit at The Real Estate Studio February 16 – March 26 with an Opening Reception held Friday, February 17, 2012 from 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM.  For more information about the exhibit, contact The Real Estate Studio 722-5618. For a list of SEWE events, please click this link.

– Amanda Graham

One of my favorite things about working at The Real Estate Studio is that it really is a beautiful place to spend the day.  Besides the fact that it’s open and bright with clean, modern décor, the exposed brick walls offer the perfect backdrop for an ever-changing array of local art.  Every six weeks or so, we offer our downtown space to a different local artist or organization to exhibit new works, hang a retrospective, or organize a group showing. We don’t pretend to be a gallery.   We just love supporting the art community in Charleston.  This city is culturally alive, and that’s one of the things that makes it such an exciting place to live.

Next up at the Studio is painter Honor Marks, a Charleston native who paints luminous oils of indigenous wildlife and flowers. Honor says about her work, “I try to reveal the work of God that we see in the world around us. The unfurling of a leaf, the structure of a stem, the majesty of a single fading flower are all such amazing and complicated creations. As wild places disappear, we are increasingly surrounded by landscapes and places that are man-made. How will we retain a sense of wonder, awe, mystery, or humility when everything that was created by something greater than us is gone? We truly take for granted the enormity of the miracles that surround us. My work celebrates those miracles.”

We are terribly excited to show Honor’s work at the Studio.  Not only do her paintings radiate the pure essence of her natural subjects, but those subjects are specific to this region. This show will offer our guests a unique perspective on our local botanicals and wildlife, and it will also introduce them to a really talented local artist. Honor is featured in the Artist Profile this month in Charleston Magazine.

Stop by the Studio between November 1 and December 9, 2009 to check out this extraordinary work.  For an opportunity to meet the artist and enjoy some good company and some fine beverages, join us for the opening reception on November 5, 2009.

by Traci Magnus